900sq ft raised patio

hey guys, i just have a simple question. ill be builiding a 30x30 patio in a few weeks. my question is i was at the supplier today getting quotes on pavers and wall block for other jobs, and i mention to them that ill be buidling this patio in a few week and we got to talking about the construction process of it,. i usually dig down 8" for raised patios and use 5" of 21aa, and 3" of Slag to construct most patios, well the supplier suggest using all slag instead of 21aa. i was wondering what your opinions were and how you would put this together. in my opinion i dont feel slag is solid enough to build a raised patio base, but i guess everyone does it different.

sorry about that, 21aa over here is just crushed concrete/stone , and slag sand is 30a, and paver base is crushed limestone. i mostly make my bases our of crushed conrete, but the supplier suggest using 30a (slag) because there would be less air pockets for water to get in

still a little confused on what slag or 30a is? but here is what we do. for a raised patio you want to remove all of the organic materials and unstable soil, getting down to a good gravel or sand. compact as normal then you need to lay a geo textile fabric down, such as mirafi. then we will use all crushed stone, 3/4 to fines, a quarry blend, compacted in lifts. the depth depends on how far you have to dig to reach suitable soil and how high your finished patio is. you can use crushed concrete if you like. the pavers will be layed on 1" of sand as usual. kinda brief but that is the gist of it. ask if you need more specific questions.

"Way more stuff than I need, not even close to everything that I want."

guess i got my terms messed up, but yeh crushed stone is 21aa or atleast thats what these local suppliers say. but i guess my real question is is there really a different in using crushed stone vs slag sand. which retains more water. i use the same process also, out with all the unstable soild, in with geo fab, crushed stone, i use 2" -3" of slag depending on the job, and start laying down pavers on the surface thanks for your help. McKeeland, check your site out, great work, i gotta get pics up here my self

i would not use recycled concrete, but as of right now it is still allowable as far as i know. i prefer some one used recycled concrete than stone dust though. my biggest problem with rc is that it absorbs and holds water. so many times we set our base and it rained the next day and the recycled concrete would pump all the water to the top when the tamper ran over it. the only good part is it was like a scavenger hunt to find all the s**t that wasn't supposed to be in there, toy cars, gate hinge, lots and lots of treated lumber.

"Way more stuff than I need, not even close to everything that I want."